Rabbi Schneider - El Rohi, The God Who Sees

TOPICS: To Know Him by Name Season 2

Today I want to focus next on El Rohi. El Rohi. Remember, "El" is God. And then what God did is He connected His name to different descriptions of Him. And one of those descriptions is Rohi. El Rohi. Now, the name or the title of God, El Rohi, is used only one place in the Bible. It's in the book of Bereshit (or Genesis) chapter 16. Now, the name El Rohi is translated in English as "the God who sees" or "the God who sees me". The reason that the Lord brought this description of His nature and of His relationship with his people to view in the Torah in Genesis 16 is because Hagar that had been Sarai's handmaiden was given to Abram to become the one that would bear a child to Abram.

Many of you know the story that Abram was looking for the promise that the Lord had spoken to him that through his seed, which it was a child that came forth from his body, all the nations of the earth should be blessed. And so Abram kept on trying to conceive with his wife Sarai, but nothing was happening. Finally, in desperation, Sarai says to Abram, "Listen, I'm going to give you my handmaiden, I'm going to give you Hagar. Go into her and conceive a child for us". So Abram goes into Hagar, Hagar conceives. But once Hagar conceived, all of a sudden she began to look at really her, you know, her mistress, her boss, you would say... She began to look at Sarai with contempt. And Sarai felt this. She felt all of a sudden like she had been pushed out of her house, that she had lost her place, that now Hagar was the one that was able to bring forth a child, and Sarai felt displaced.

And so Sarai was very, very angry and upset about this. She went to Abram, she said, "Look what you've done". So rather than me telling you the whole story, you've got a little bit of a setup for it now, let's go to the book of Genesis 16 or Bereshit for ourselves. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord, beloved ones, bless His name, endures forever. Hear the word of God. "Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, 'Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go into my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.' And Abram listened to the voice of his wife Sarai. He went into Hagar and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress, Sarai, was despised in her sight".

In Hagar's sight. All of a sudden, pride-filled Hagar's heart and she began to look down on her mistress, Sarai, Abram's lawful wife. "And Sarai said to Abram, 'May the wrong done me be upon you...'" Now listen to that again. Sarai says to Abram... when Hagar despised her, she blames it all on Abram, even though it was Sarai's idea for Abram to go into Hagar. It's interesting the way human nature works. When it all went down, Sarai turned around and blamed it all on Abraham as if it was his fault, when in reality it was Sarai's idea for Abram to go into Hagar.

So listen again. "So Sarai said to Abram, 'May the wrong done me be upon you.' I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me". I just want to take a pause here to comment on human nature. Isn't it interesting that we blame others for things that we ourselves are responsible for. It's always somebody else's fault. To me, this biblical story is such a clear illustration. Abram didn't do anything wrong. He just did what his wife asked him to do. But then the consequences of Abram doing what Sarai had asked him to do brought Sarai a lot of grief, understandably.

But rather than Sarai recognizing and taking responsibility for the fact that this was all her ingenious idea, instead what does she do? She blames it on her husband. And aren't we all like that sometimes in our human fallen nature? We want to blame people and accuse people. "It's your fault. It's your fault. You made me mad. It's your fault that I'm angry. It's your fault that I'm struggling in life". And it goes on. But you know, my friends, we will never ascend into victory when we're caught into the cycle of playing a victim and blaming other people. Blaming other people has to stop. Blaming circumstances has to stop. Because as long as we continue to blame someone else, that means we're not looking at ourselves, taking responsibility, and figuring out what we need to do to ascend and to solve the problem.

So I say this to you, even as I say it to myself oftentimes. I can feel myself sometimes being angry at somebody and blaming somebody. And I recognize that most often when that's going on, I need to stop and ask myself, "Is what I'm doing right? Is it right for me to be blaming this person? Is it right for me to be angry with this person"? And more often than not, it's not them that needs to change or repent, it's me that needs to change. So I just want you to really, really think about this. You know, a lot of times we say that Yeshua is our Lord, but He's not really our Lord until we make Him Lord. And we make Him our Lord when we humble ourselves, beloved, and walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

And this principle that I'm sharing with you now has to do with walking by the leading of the Spirit and not blaming other people, but looking at ourselves. And so this goes on, and Hagar is looking down on Sarai now. So Hagar was putting out bad vibes, too. She got puffed up. Hagar got pregnant. Sarai was not pregnant. So here was Hagar that was the maid, and now she conceives when her mistress could not. And what happens? Hagar's heart gets puffed up, gets filled with pride, gets filled really with the energy of the devil, and now she begins to despise her mistress, her boss, Sarai. And Sarai feels it. Sarai didn't imagine it. Hagar was really treating her that way. And that's another lesson just for you and I, how if we're not careful, Satan can fill us with pride and we can start looking down on people and treating people harshly.

You know, it's funny sometimes is that there's maybe a truth. This is just a story that I've observed. You know, you're oblivious to some type of spiritual truth for let's say 20 years. I'm making up a number, 20 years. And you didn't know about this revelation for 20 years. I'm going to be teaching as an example in the future episodes in this series about God's sacred covenant name Yahweh, and what that means. So let's assume that somebody had never had teaching on Yahweh's covenant name and what that means for the believer. But all of a sudden, they learn about God's covenant name. And what do they sometimes do?

A day later, they're condemning other Christians for not knowing about Yahweh's covenant name, looking down upon them, when for 20 years they didn't know it either, and it was only yesterday they learned it themselves, and now all of a sudden, they're judging other Christians. So this is just something that happens in human nature. We receive something, and then instead of walking it out, in humility and insensitivity to the Holy Spirit, what do we do? We get puffed up and we begin to condemn others. So just another lesson to human nature here. So at any rate, Hagar begins to treat Sarai, her mistress, with contempt.

So once again, picking up in verse five, "And Sarai said to Abram, 'May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me.' But Abram said to Sarai, 'Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her whatever is good in your sight.'" So Abram really honored his wife here. He really honored Sarai. He wanted nothing to do with this contention in their relationship. He was like, "Listen, if this is going to cause contention between you and I, do whatever you need to do to find peace".

That's in effect what Abram was saying to his wife. And that's a good lesson sometimes for you and I that are married, that when there is an issue in our marriage that's causing our spouse distress or something that they're not able to handle, a lot of times what we need to do is just to say, you know, whatever you need to do to find peace, I support you. And obviously every situation is different and we can't always take that posture, but sometimes we can. And it's good to know whatever is going to help you, honey, I support you. So that's what Abraham was saying in effect to Sarai. "But Abram said to Sarai, 'Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her whatever is good in your sight.' So Sarai treated her, Hagar, harshly and she fled from her presence".

So, all of a sudden Sarai gets really harsh towards Hagar. She expresses her anger towards Hagar and Hagar flees in the face of this anger and resentment. So Hagar is now fleeing, she's in the middle of nowhere... and we pick up now in verse 7. Hagar's fleeing in the process of running, she's alone, and as she's fleeing, it says, "Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. He said, 'Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?' And she said, 'I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.'" And then the angel spoke back to her. And as the angel spoke back to Hagar, he revealed to Hagar that he loved her, that he was with her, and that he saw her in her suffering.

So we continue in verse 13. "Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are God who sees...'" And there is where we discover, beloved ones, the title of God El Rohi. The angel comes to her, He comforts her, He gives her direction. After the angel spoke to Hagar, giving her comfort, encourage her, and direction, she responds back to the angel, you are El Rohi. In other words, in her mind, the angel was just a messenger of God. So she was worshiping God, recognizing the angel was just a messenger of the Lord. And she said, "You are El Rohi". El Rohi. Hard I on the end. El Rohi, the God who sees me. You are the God who sees me.

Beloved ones, maybe that's something that you and I right now need more than anybody else in the world. You just need to know that God sees you. You're hurting right now. You feel like you're alone. You feel like there's no one that can do anything for you in your predicament, in your hurt, and in your suffering. But you know what? Your God is still El Rohi. He's the God who sees you. And He knows exactly where you're at. He knows where you're located right now. Not only in the physical space that you're in, but He knows where you're at emotionally. He sees you emotionally, my dear friends. He sees your mental anguish. He sees the struggle you may be having in your body. Our Creator has revealed Himself to us as El Rohi, the God who sees.

Father, thank You for seeing us. Father, thank You that we're not alone. Father, thank You for Your angelic ministry to us, Your angelic ministry to Your people. That even as You sent the angel to speak to Hagar, Father, that You're sending your angels to minister to Your elect. Beloved, that's you and I today. Father, I pray specifically right now for those that are carrying a great burden. Father, that even as they're watching this broadcast or listening to it by radio, that You would cause their mind to be illuminated with the Ruach HaKadosh and their heart to be opened to the revelation that You see them, Lord, and that You're with them. Father, thank You that we don't have to bear anything alone. Thank you, Yeshua King Jesus, that You said to us that You are with us always, even unto the end. Thank You, Lord, that we don't have to bear anything alone. Father, we remind ourselves today that You said to us in Your Word: cast your cares upon Me, for I care for you.

So, Father, I ask You for grace and revelation right now, that You would teach us and train us how to cast our care upon You rather than trying to carry it all alone. Father, I pray that You would break into our inner man in such a way that we'd be able to perceive the depths of how much You see us, that the number of hairs on our head are numbered. Lord, that You feel what we feel. Yeshua, that You're feeling what we're feeling. That You see us and that You feel us. That You get it. Help us to understand this, Lord. Help us to take the burden that we're carrying and give it to You and to invite you in to have fellowship with You, even in the hard times.

And I know for some of you, beloved, a hard time is right now. I want you to know God loves you. El Rohi sees you. He's with you even to the end. Everything that you do will be rewarded. And Yeshua told us in the book of Revelation that if we patiently endure, we will overcome and receive the crown of life. Stay strong, be steady. You've got a reward coming to you.